


Angel with a Shotgun

by demoncow97



Category: Persona 5
Genre: Akira needs a hug, Akira's parents suck, Alternate Universe - Guardian Angels, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Angel Sakamoto Ryuji, Fictober, Fluff and Angst, For once this is not Max Charm Akira, Happy Ending, Implied/Referenced Child Neglect, M/M, Or at least at the beginning, Strangers to Friends to Lovers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-19
Updated: 2020-12-13
Packaged: 2021-03-08 23:33:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,599
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27095083
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/demoncow97/pseuds/demoncow97
Summary: The blond took a deep breath, while Akira checked the proximity of the door in case things went south.“So, truth is…I’m—”A ghost? An alien? An apparition of Akira’s perpetual loneliness which had amalgamated into a punkish blond boy his age?“—your guardian angel.”
Relationships: Kurusu Akira & Suzui Shiho, Kurusu Akira/Sakamoto Ryuji, Persona 5 Protagonist/Sakamoto Ryuji
Comments: 16
Kudos: 76





	1. Chapter 1

Morning was a quiet time. There were noises: an alarm, a coffee pot boiling, a yawn or two, but they were few and far between. 

Things were louder when Akira left the coffee shop, but they were still just background noise. The train against the tracks, the chattering of commuters, the mass of footsteps against pavement, they were loud, but external to Akira. He drifted silently through these noises, more preoccupied with the scenery around him, or the words on his cell phone.

The fog that filled the streets of Tokyo seemed to muffle the noise, but only until rain started cutting through the clouds. The sky remained gray, but the fog cleared away, allowing the sky to return to its typical expansiveness, releasing Tokyo from mother nature’s brand of claustrophobia. Now only the usual claustrophobia induced by Tokyo itself remained. The umbrellas that quickly spread through the walkway toward Shujin Academy blended into the background as much as the people holding them.

Akira had been attending Shujin for two weeks now, but he still felt like a stranger here. As many times as he walked the streets, they felt cold and unfamiliar, the students here equally so. The whispers, always just loud enough that he could hear but conveniently quiet enough that the teachers did nothing, had yet to die down since he’d started. Drama and gossip were staples of any high school stereotype, but Akira never thought he’d be thrust so forcefully into the centre of them.

It was tiring, and sometimes Akira wished someone else could take the role as primary gossip victim, if only for a day.

But with no end to the careful glances and not so careful avoidance in sight, Akira would just have to wait until his fellow students forgot about him. It was lonely, but in a familiar way.

To be ignored or scorned, it was a toss up.

Akira saw the school gate come into view, hoards of students scurrying inside to avoid the rain that had begun to pour harder. He kept his own pace though, careful not to get in anyone’s space. The rain kept hitting his glasses, making it hard enough to see that he didn’t want to risk running anyways. He wiped the water off with the collar of his turtleneck, before starting to speed walk a little bit.

Small groups of students clustered under shared umbrellas, trying to match each other’s pace.

A boy ahead of Akira, in an effort to keep up, dropped his bag as his friend pulled him into the safety of Shujin’s foyer. Pausing for a moment, Akira bent down and picked up the bag, carrying it with him inside. Taking a quick look around, it was pretty easy to spot the bag’s owner, given his panicked expression at losing all his possessions.

Knowing where his efforts to socialize had gotten him so far, Akira had half a mind to drop the bag off at the lost and found instead. But with the boy’s scrambling only getting worse, Akira steeled himself and approached.

“Excuse me, I think this is yours,” Akira offered, holding up the bag in his hand.

The room around him froze, everyone’s eyes now on Akira.

“Oh my god, did he steal it?” a nearby bystander whispered.

“He probably took the money already,” another said.

“Maybe he’s just being nice,” a girl suggested, only to be elbowed by her friend.

The bag owner met Akira’s eyes with so much fear that Akira couldn’t help but feel guilty for making him the center of attention. Akira offered a small reassuring smile to help ease the other boy.

The boy gulped, shaking slightly as he walked toward Akira. It was quiet, much quieter than this school had ever been before, as the boy reached his arm forward in such a slow motion, one might think he was trying to poke a sleeping bear. As soon as the boy’s fingers wrapped around the bag’s handle, he was ripping the bag out of Akira’s hands and sprinting in the opposite direction.

Then, as if someone had pressed play on a movie, everything returned to normal, with students changing into their indoor shoes, and making their way to their classrooms.

Akira watched the boy for a second. Watched his friends clap him on the shoulder and poke fun at him, offering words of teasing reassurance. It was only when the warning bell rung that Akira forced himself out of his trance and stuffed his possessions into his locker.

He made his way to class alone.

***

School ended like it did everyday, new homework to do and new rumours about Akira circling around the school.

The number of labels he’d already accumulated was honestly pretty impressive. Criminal, violent maniac, and delinquent were probably the most common, but thief was new. As much as he shouldn’t be surprised by people’s ability to skew things to make them as dramatic as possible, he still couldn’t wrap his head around how returning a dropped bag had led to him being a thief.

Well there wasn’t much he could do about it now. Previous attempts to talk casually with his classmates had been rather unsuccessful, so the only thing he could really do was what he’d been doing since he’d gotten to Tokyo.

Wait it out and hope things got better.

Akira lagged behind his classmates who were already vacating the room, eager to get home. It was Saturday so many of them had plans, or so Akira had overheard.

Akira on the other hand, only had an irritable coffee shop owner and an empty attic waiting for him. While the peace and quiet of his own space sounded comforting considering the day he’d had, Akira knew the quiet would quickly become all consuming.

So instead of following the masses of students heading down the stairs and out of the building, Akira went against the grain and made his way toward the roof. He paused at the top, where an off-limits sign had been posted on the door, but if he was already labelled a delinquent then was this really that big a deal?

Opening the door, Akira took in the view of the empty rooftop. There were old desks and chairs stacked every which-where, but that was about all there was to see. Rain continued to fall, but it was more of a drizzle at this point. Walking over to the edge of the roof, any view one might have had was obstructed by the other large buildings in the area. Akira only really saw the small forms of Shujin uniforms leaving the school, most headed in the direction of the train station.

“What am I even doing?” Akira asked aloud, a humourless laugh leaving his lips.

There was nothing up here, but there was something about distancing himself like this that had a numbing effect. Or maybe it was just the cold.

Akira wasn’t someone who spent time without purpose. He kept himself busy, be it by studying or by one of the part-time jobs he’d gotten. It was better to keep occupied, because when it was just Akira and his thoughts, his mind tended to wander to things he’d rather forget.

Which was why it was strange that Akira had brought himself to a place where he could easily remember how everything had gone wrong.

His whole life he’d wanted his parents to notice him; for them to take even a minute out of their busy days to acknowledge him. A hug may have been asking too much, but just a single word of approval would have been enough. Anything to prove his parents noticed his existence. Funnily enough, the only time this desire had been fulfilled was when his parents had to attend his trial.

The attention he’d longed for so long morphed into disappointed stares and harsh words, which only circled back to Akira being alone all over again.

It was a vicious cycle, a vortex that had Akira trapped. Everyone around him could see it, but did nothing to break him free. It was dark here, but Akira was used to it. He tried not to wish anymore, to be happy with what he did have. He was healthy, had a roof over his head, which was more than a lot of people.

Whining about it would just drive more people away, but up on the roof by himself, Akira found himself making a wish, despite himself.

If he could have just a single person see him, really see him, even if only for a moment…

“There must be one person in Tokyo who won’t hate me,” Akira said to himself.

Looking up at the sky, the rain finally stopped. Even the clouds parted slightly, making way for a small sunbeam that hit Shujin’s roof directly. Akira had to shield his eyes with an arm, but the warmth still felt nice even if it blinded him.

Having no reason to stay any longer (not that he’d had a reason to be here to begin with), Akira bent down to retrieve his school bag.

“Uh, hey there dude?” a voice said, startling Akira enough to drop the bag he’d just picked up.

Akira whipped his head around to see a blond boy standing sheepishly a few feet away from him. The boy wore all white aside from an oversized purple coat that hung loosely over his shoulders, unzipped in the front. The bright white paired with the sunlight bouncing off of the fabric only blinded Akira more.

“Sorry man, I didn’t mean to startle ya,” the boy apologized.

“Umm it’s fine,” Akira replied, eyes having finally adjusted.

He should feel excited that someone was talking to him like a normal person, but there was clearly something strange about this boy. Firstly, judging by his clothes and the fact that Akira had never seen him before (it’d be hard to miss such bright hair), this boy was not a student here. Secondly, if he wasn’t a student, what was he doing on Shujin’s roof?

Akira wasn’t exactly sure what to say or ask, afraid to offend the stranger. At the very least, the blond looked like he was having just as hard a time as he was, face scrunching up as if deep in thought.

“So… what are you doing up here?” Akira asked, keeping the question neutral.

“Oh.. Uh well…” the boy attempted. “So…”

Akira waited patiently.

The boy groaned in frustration, taking a breath to steady himself.

“Okay, sorry dude, it’s just… this is gonna sound really effin’ crazy,” the blond managed.

Akira wasn’t sure he liked the sound of that, but he continued to listen, muscles tensing up slightly.

“Umm ya see I’m actually—”

The opening of the roof’s door cut him off.

“The door clearly says off limits—oh why am I not surprised…” Ms. Kawakami, Akira’s homeroom teacher, said, not hiding her annoyance. “Mr. Kurusu, I know you’re not used to playing by the rules, but you really can’t be up here.”

Akira felt a mixture of shame and frustration. Yes, he shouldn’t be up here, but he’d been nothing but a model student since he’d started. Apparently believing rumours wasn’t exclusively a teenager thing.

“I’m sorry,” Akira responded.

“What are you even doing up here by yourself?” she asked, not really expecting an answer.

“I—” Akira was about to answer before stopping himself. “By myself?” he asked instead, making direct eye contact with the blond who stood closer to Kawakami than even himself.

The boy kind of shrugged at him, rubbing the back of his neck almost apologetically.

“Well unless you’re hiding some other delinquent up here, then yes, by yourself,” Kawakami answered before muttering a small “why me?” to herself.

Akira was stuck, caught between believing this was some cruel joke and that he was finally going crazy. Could he really be so infamous here already that his teacher would outright neglect to warn the other boy clearly on the roof with him? Was this some way to isolate him even more until he was finally chased out of Shujin for good?

However, if this were the case, then Ms. Kawakami was an award-winning actress because the confusion on her face could only classify as genuine. She didn’t once look at the blond, who stood almost between herself and Akira, eyes boring straight ahead with a glance or two to her watch.

But if she really thought he was alone…

“You don’t see him?” Akira asked, pointing at the blond not even three feet away from him. This was clearly a risk in looking like a complete fool, but Akira needed to know.

A flash of concern passed over his teacher’s face, but was quickly replaced by even greater frustration than before.

“Ha ha, very funny Mr. Kurusu. Now if you and your imaginary friend will kindly leave the roof, I’ll let you off with a warning this time,” Kawakami said, not hiding how unimpressed she was. “And next time, just own up to your mistakes yourself.”

With that she held the door open, waiting for Akira to exit.

Akira, blinked a few times, looking back and forth between Kawakami and the blond stranger she apparently couldn’t see. He discreetly pinched himself, but the boy didn’t disappear. Looking back at the impatient teacher waiting for him, Akira felt himself freeze, brain too overloaded to follow his teacher’s basic instruction.

He knew in the back of his mind that this must look really bad, but Akira could very well have lost his mind completely and was beginning to hallucinate. Or maybe even the school ghost had taken pity on him and decided to keep him company. Maybe the ghost wanted him dead.

“Shit, I’m sorry dude, I didn’t mean to get you in trouble,” the boy said solemnly, looking guilty.

Too confused to feel any animosity toward the sincere look on the blond’s face, Akira nodded his head in acknowledgement.

“It’s fine,” Akira said. This was a lie, Akira was not, in fact, fine.

“What’s fine?” Kawakami asked, tapping a foot where she continued to stand in the doorway.

“Dude, don’t answer me anymore!” the boy said, frazzled. “I’ll explain, I promise… just after she’s gone.”

Akira, who felt even more frazzled, nodded, catching his mistake.

“Sorry I was talking to myself,” Akira said, noticing the suspicious look Kawakami gave him.

Kawakami sighed loudly, looking tired.

“Well, I suggest you go home and spend some time on your homework instead of… talking to yourself,” Kawakami suggested awkwardly. “Look, I have somewhere to be, so I won’t force you off the roof for today, but don’t stay up here much longer. And this is a one-time thing okay? Next time I catch you up here I’ll have to report you, understood?”

“Understood, thank you,” Akira said, surprised at the leniency he was being shown.

With that, Kawakami spared him another glance before retreating inside with a small click of the roof door. Akira stood for a moment, watching as his teacher left, and side-eyeing the blond who slouched as he stood, seemingly waiting for Akira to do something.

It was tense on the roof, silent apart from the chirping of the odd bird. Akira had so many questions, he couldn’t decide where to start. Who was this boy? What did he want with Akira?

_Why couldn’t his teacher see him?_

“So… that was awkward huh?” the blond forced a laugh, but the grimace on his face was clear.

Akira stared at him, face neutral, waiting.

“Yeah, I guess you’re waiting for me to tell ya what’s going on?” the boy said. “Okay, try not to freak out too much…”

“Too late for that,” Akira found himself saying before he could stop himself.

Hopefully that wouldn’t offend the potentially malevolent spirit.

The boy snorted a little instead. “Fair enough dude.”

The blond took a deep breath, while Akira checked the proximity of the door in case things went south. Although if this was a ghost, then running probably wouldn’t do much good. Akira then gestured for the boy to continue, keeping the remainder of his questions to himself until the stranger spoke his piece.

“So truth is Akira…” oh good he already knew Akira’s name somehow “…I’m—”

A ghost? An alien? An apparition of Akira’s perpetual loneliness which had amalgamated into a punkish blond boy his age?

“—your guardian angel.”


	2. Chapter 2

Angels, in any traditional sense of the term, were beings of pure virtue and goodness. They were supposed to have halos and wings and be the picture of serenity. Guardian angels were likely supposed to follow these criteria as well.

Akira had never believed in something like guardian angels (he didn’t know anyone who did), but he was fairly confident that the blond before him did not quite tick all the stereotypical angel boxes. The ‘angel’ continued to slouch in his purple hoodie, which Akira now recognized as the brand from the convenience store he worked at, with no wings or halo in sight. Hell, the boy had already said ‘shit’ earlier, and swearing didn’t seem to follow the picture of a heavenly being. So as little as Akira knew about angels, he felt justified in his own skepticism.

“Uh, you okay?” the ‘angel’ asked, waiting not so patiently for Akira’s reaction.

Akira thought out several responses in his head. He cycled through them, trying to decide the best way to reach an understanding of the situation without insulting the ‘angel’s’ claims, ridiculous as they seemed.

“What’s your name?” Akira asked, a cautious edge to his voice.

“I should’ve told ya that before, my bad. I’m Ryuji,” Ryuji answered.

Akira nodded.

“Okay, Ryuji… so you’ll have to understand if I’m being a little skeptical here. Now I still don’t know what’s going on, but if you’re a ghost or something you can just tell me the truth. Calling yourself an angel isn’t going to make me more likely to listen to you,” Akira said slowly, gauging Ryuji’s expression. “Even if this is some prank that you and Miss Kawakami are pulling, I’m not going to get mad.”

Ryuji’s face scrunched up in frustration, but not the kind one gets when caught in a lie.

“I’m not lying, I _am_ your guardian angel. I couldn’t even lie if I wanted to,” Ryuji said, eyes imploring Akira to believe him.

He looked genuine enough, but with the only evidence being Ryuji’s magical invisible act, Akira just couldn’t bring himself to suddenly believe in something like guardian angels. But as much as he wanted one, it didn’t look like Akira was going to get any other explanation. Trying to pry further seemed a futile effort, and Akira didn’t want to risk saying the wrong thing now. He was good at keeping a composed face, but with the odds of him hallucinating this whole thing getting higher and higher, Akira was about ready to go home to psychoanalyze himself or even visit that sketchy doctor near his house.

“I wish I could believe you but—”

“Wait I can prove it!” Ryuji cut him off. “I’ll explain everything, so just listen for a bit okay?”

Akira raised a brow, curiosity getting the better of him. He blamed the strangeness of the encounter for his own lack of common sense.

When Ryuji realized Akira was waiting for him, his face lit up. The ray of sun hitting the rooftop seemed to brighten slightly as well.

“Uh, so I don’t know how much you know about guardians… but long story short, I got assigned to you like a year and a half ago after that time you got your mom that nice mug for her birthday, but she said there wasn’t any space and put it in a pile to be donated,” Ryuji explained with a hint of bitterness in his tone. “Anyways, I know about your old school and that one teacher who always dressed up in that weird Egyptian outfit, and that time you almost slept through your math final cause you’re not a morning person. I know all the shit with the criminal record that you totally don’t deserve too. I’m still mad about that ya know?”

Ryuji opened his mouth to continue but seemed to notice the shocked, borderline distressed look on Akira’s face.

“That all sounded creepy and stalkerish, didn’t it?” Ryuji said with a nervous laugh. “But, uh, I don’t watch ya all the time or anything dude, just when you’re doing something where ya might need a little help…”

Akira was aware Ryuji was trying to make things better, but it was not working.

He felt like he couldn’t breathe. Whether it was the fact that any privacy he’d thought he had was a lie or the embarrassment of his sad life being watched in such detail, he wasn’t sure. All the silent meltdowns in his room, all the failed attempts to talk to a classmate, this boy had seen them all. Or at least those within the last year and a half if what Ryuji said was true.

This must be what a zoo animal felt like, but with the awareness that they were on constant surveillance.

“I know this is a lot, but could ya say something, Akira?” Ryuji pleaded, eyes filled with a fear Akira felt was unwarranted considering he was the one whose world had just been flipped around.

What did this boy want? He wanted Akira to believe he was his guardian angel? Well Akira was too busy having an internal crisis to have time to process the angel thing on top of it. It was all too much.

“I don’t know what you want me to say,” Akira replied, keeping a serious face.

Ryuji flinched a little.

“You’re right, ya probably need some time to think… but if there’s anything I can do to—"

“What do you want from me?” Akira cut him off.

Akira couldn’t remember the last time he’d interrupted anyone. He was one to avoid conflict for the most part, and worked harder than he’d admit to receive the smallest of validation from those around him. But with the tempest of his own thoughts along with Ryuji’s continuous stream of words, Akira just needed a concrete answer.

“I guess I should’ve started with that…” Ryuji said, looking guilty. “Well, guardians are meant to help keep their assigned person safe and happy, and you’ve been havin’ a hard time lately… so I’m here to help…”

Akira could have laughed at the simplicity of the answer, but he didn’t. He was still too overwhelmed to do much of anything aside from listen.

“…You were up on the roof, and you asked for help so I couldn’t just watch anymore, I guess. I didn’t really think about how crazy this would be for ya until I was already here… But anyways, I’m here to help ya make some friends! I got a plan to get you some real friends who can see how cool and amazing ya are!” Ryuji finished, the smile on his face clouded by a desperation for Akira to accept him in some way.

Akira flinched minutely. He was painfully aware that no one had ever called him anything close to ‘amazing’ before, so the words affected Akira more than he’d admit. At the same time, Ryuji was clearly exaggerating so that Akira would trust him, so he quickly shut down any positive emotions he’d felt at the compliment and locked them away.

Ryuji looked on, body so still that the tension could be seen beneath the loose clothing he wore. His brown eyes hid none of the worry he felt watching Akira, but it only made Akira feel more overwhelmed.

He didn’t want to be here anymore. Akira needed to be anywhere but here.

“I have to go,” Akira announced, not looking Ryuji in the eye.

“Oh, sure dude that’s fine,” Akira heard Ryuji say, but was already making his way to the door.

Hands shoved in his pockets, Akira maneuvered his way out of the school and down the street towards the bus station. He kept his eyes trained on the ground, looking up every once and a while to ensure he didn’t run into anyone. The roads were still wet from the earlier rain, but aside from that everything was the same as it’d been since Akira moved here.

Except nothing was the same, was it?

Guardian angels actually existed? Akira was still wrapping his head around that part, let alone any of the other information associated with it. He liked to think he was pretty adaptable, and he knew the information would sink in eventually, but at the moment it played with his brain like a laser pointer for a cat. It was right there but he couldn’t quite grasp it.

The red dot existed, but only the cat chased it, while everyone else went about their day unbothered.

It was still busy when he arrived at the bus station despite Akira having missed the initial wave of students heading home. There were very few times when Tokyo’s train stations weren’t full, and this wasn’t one of them. As much as Akira tried to avoid it, the shoulder bumping as he waited for his train to arrive was inevitable with the large masses of people vying for the same destination.

However, there was one person that was not having this problem.

Out of the corner of Akira’s eye, he caught a flash of purple, and immediately made eye contact with the boy he’d just left on the roof. Ryuji was walking to the station gate, no transit card in sight, but no one questioned when he hopped over the bars and onto the station with everyone else. In fact, two girls seemed to be having a conversation _through_ Ryuji, with him standing in between them, no one so much as looking his way.

People seemed to unconsciously avoid standing where Ryuji was, but no one acknowledged the bright hair or the purple hoodie covering the entire white ensemble. Ryuji, in turn, looked rather… acclimated to it. He didn’t seem to move when people walked directly towards him either.

A ghost. That theory was still valid wasn’t it? Was that better or worse than an angel?

This train of thought stopped as soon as someone standing near Ryuji was shoved directly into him. Ryuji decidedly did dodge out of the way this time, but with the quick sidestep, the front opened jacket moved oh so slightly, giving Akira a glimpse of the one thing that’d been missing from this whole story.

It was brief, but Akira saw it. The white feathered wing seemed to jolt as Ryuji moved, putting itself into view for a moment before tucking itself behind the purple fabric once more. Ryuji seemed to say something to the person, but the words went as unheard as he was unseen.

Akira felt several things at this moment.

Firstly, it was like he could finally swallow the food shoved in his mouth an hour ago. The acceptance of this craziness was both freeing and even more overwhelming.

Secondly, he felt a discomfort that Ryuji had definitely followed him here after he’d left him on the roof. If everything Ryuji said was true, then Ryuji already knew where Akira lived, and had probably been there before. That didn’t make things any more comforting.

Lastly, he felt the shoving of the masses pushing him into the train as it stopped and opened its’ doors for people to enter.

Akira caught one last glance of Ryuji getting on the train before he was squished into the train car with the rest of the commuters.

The ride itself went quickly. He pulled out a book to read but found his head too jumbled to take in any of the words. The sound of a baby crying overtook the lazy chatter of the people, but it still felt better than a ride in complete silence. Or at least today it did. Akira pulled out his phone out of reflex if nothing else, to distract his wandering eyes. He scrolled mindlessly until his stop was announced.

Exiting the train, Akira moved at the fastest speed-walk he could. But even at his pace, it seemed the person he’d been attempting to outrun had caught up relatively easily.

Akira stopped in front of the door to Leblanc, and took a steadying breath.

Turning around slowly, Akira gave the blond following him a hard look.

“I believe you, okay,” Akira admitted, both to Ryuji and to himself.

Ryuji’s eyes brightened significantly at that, taking an excitable step toward Akira.

“But—” Akira continued. “—I need some space, okay.”

Ryuji stopped his approach.

“I can’t just leave though; this is my job. What if ya get hurt when I’m not there?” Ryuji argued, but Akira could see the understanding in his eyes.

“Look, I’m not going to die in the coffee shop. All of this is a lot, so I just want some place where I can be alone,” Akira said. “You said you want me to be happy, right? So if you could just give me some time to myself.”

Akira never thought he’d be asking to be left alone, but some sort of boundary needed to be put in place.

“Yeah… I get you dude,” Ryuji said, pausing briefly in contemplation. His expression was scrunched, but whether in frustration or not was unclear to Akira. “I’m just worried is all.”

The last bit was almost a whisper.

“Please?” Akira emphasized as a manner of persuasion.

Ryuji worried his bottom lip for another moment, leaving Akira waiting in the alleyway with people walking down the street only a couple hundred feet away.

Akira took a quick peak over his shoulder into the café behind him. Sojiro seemed busy with one of his few regular customers, distracting him from anything going on outside his shop.

“I won’t bother ya, and I’ll leave Leblanc to you. But if ya need anything just holler, okay?” Ryuji finally said. “You better stay safe though!”

Akira felt the tension in his shoulders ease slightly.

“Thanks,” he said quietly.

Ryuji gave him a small smile, before turning on heel and stalking away slowly, looking over his shoulder a few times as he left.

Akira trudged into Leblanc and went up the stairs with only a small wave to Sojiro.

Falling onto his mattress, Akira couldn’t tell if his exhaustion was from the realization that supernatural beings existed, or from socializing with someone for more than ten minutes.

It was funny though, with the solitude being by choice, it didn’t feel quite as bad. He hoped some sleep and a few days of perceived normalcy would aid in his adjustment to the whole thing.

But as much as his eyes were begging to close, it was far too early for that.

So instead, Akira pulled out his phone and opened a new search tab where he typed a single question.

_What are guardian angels?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Was listening to music while editing this chapter and Angel with a Shotgun came on. I laughed so hard at how well it fit the fic that I had to change the title. I'm not sorry.
> 
> Hope y'all enjoyed! Next couple chapters should be longer in length than this one!


	3. Chapter 3

It’d been a week or so since the roof incident and Akira was finally in the acceptance stage of the guardian angel debacle, meaning he had settled into an unknown space.

He was past the overwhelming feeling of his world being flipped upside down (he’d probably adjusted to this much faster than a normal person would), but wasn’t sure what he wanted to do next.

Akira had yet to talk to his guardian angel since their initial meeting, and Ryuji in turn seemed to be waiting for Akira to say something. But even with the purposeful distance between them, Akira stills sees the angel everyday.

As per the agreement, Ryuji never got within any considerable distance of Leblanc, but Akira saw him wandering the halls of Shujin, or hanging out at the convenience store he worked at. Even if Akira _wanted_ to ignore his presence and live in a world where everything was normal, Ryuji’s bright colours and out of place presence naturally drew his eyes. If not for the fact that he was invisible to the rest of the human population, Akira was sure the boy would be getting looks left and right. The angel’s appearance was loud in a way that contrasted so heavily with Akira’s own; the difference so stark it was borderline intimidating.

And while the angel’s stalking was not his favourite thing, it didn’t bother Akira as much as he thought it would.

The initial research Akira had done on guardian angels had not been very fruitful, with contradicting information from each source he looked at. Generally, they agreed on a few things: guardian angels = good, they watch over humans completely unseen (Akira could disprove this one already), and they hold no malice in their hearts. Things like what angels were capable of, or their exact purpose were less clear-cut.

Did everyone have an angel? If not, why did Akira have one? Would his angel stop following him around if he successfully completed his mission?

This wasn’t even scratching the surface of what guardian angels even were to begin with or what that meant for proof of an afterlife. Akira wasn’t even sure he wanted answers to some of the deeper questions, too fearful of how much the knowledge would change things for him. The basic things though, Akira was dying to get those questions answered.

Luckily the angel with the answers was not hard to find, even if it had taken a week for Akira to settle himself enough to feel prepared. He’d psyched himself up during school today, too focused on the angel hanging lazily off an empty desk to avoid the piece of chalk flung his way. Too busy brainstorming to hear the snarky comments directed at him.

So when the bell rung, instead of heading to the train station, Akira made his way to a small alcove he’d passed a few times near the outer courtyard, with a few unused benches and a rather abandoned vending machine.

As usual, Ryuji followed him at distance, but close enough that Akira could just make out the quirked brow at Akira’s unusual behaviour.

Akira had adjusted to the way other people walked around Ryuji without a second thought or without consideration of why they were avoiding that particular spot, but he still remembered the confused looks he’d gotten when trying to talk to the invisible angel. But Akira had come up with a work-around for it.

Pulling out his cellphone, Akira tapped the blank screen a few times before bringing the phone to his ear. At least Akira wouldn’t look like he was talking to thin air this time.

Ryuji, realizing Akira had no plan to move from the spot any time soon, came in a little closer. He still looked startled when Akira looked directly at him though.

“You know, it’s kind of creepy to follow people around all day,” Akira said plainly.

With wide-eyes, Ryuji glanced at the phone in Akira’s hands before pointing to himself gingerly.

“Me?”

“Yes you, I’m pretty sure you’re the only one whose been stalking me,” Akira said, but there was no bite to his words.

You see, Akira wasn’t angry with the angel. He never had been really, just confused and overwhelmed. The silent treatment might have suggested otherwise, but Akira had just needed time to process.

Ryuji looked a mix of thrilled that Akira was acknowledging him, and uncomfortable at the words directed his way.

“I mean… I’m just doin’ my job,” Ryuji shrugged. “I wouldn’t if I didn’t have to.”

Akira had expected the answer.

Gesturing to the bench opposite him, Akira extended the invitation. Ryuji barely had time to look disbelieving before he was bounding over and sitting himself down.

“It must be boring, though. I mean, I’m not exactly living the most exciting life,” Akira said.

“Well, not gonna lie, school is pretty shitty, but it ain’t that bad. At least I don’t gotta study or anything,” Ryuji admitted.

The conversation was friendly, but held a note of tension, neither knowing where they stood with the other. They were strangers in a strange situation after all. Or perhaps Ryuji didn’t consider him a stranger? Even with a week’s worth of thoughts and research, there was a lot Akira was unsure of.

“I see,” Akira said.

There was a pause. Ryuji opened his mouth several times but seemed to reconsider every time. Equivalently, Akira was… not the most socially versed.

Years without having anyone to talk to would do that to a person. His strengths were on the side of listening rather than keeping a conversation going. Akira cycled through all the pressing questions he’d wanted addressed, but the silence was so awkward, and Ryuji was shifting around uncomfortably. So Akira abandoned the hopes of angel lore and chose a different direction.

“So…” Akira started, switching the hand holding the phone. “What is this plan of yours?”

Ryuji took a couple seconds to decipher the meaning behind Akira’s words, but when he did his eyes lit up so brightly they could be compared to Christmas lights.

“Really?”

Akira thought about reconsidering.

It was an odd thing, accepting someone’s help to make him friends of all thing. It was embarrassing, that he needed help from a magical entity to do something others could do so easily.

But after thinking it over for a week Akira had come to the conclusion that accepting the help couldn’t hurt. Best case scenario, he made a friend and the angel would finish his job (or so Akira assumed). Worst case scenario… well he wasn’t sure if people could avoid him more than they already did.

Akira didn’t like asking for help, but this angel already knew of Akira’s loneliness and deep desire to connect with people, so the neutral mask he wore was less than useless here.

So Akira nodded at Ryuji, who practically started vibrating where he sat, before shooting to his feet. The movement was like an excitable puppy more than an ethereal angel.

“Dude, you will not regret this! I’ve got some great ideas to get you some awesome friends, and then you’ll never be lonely ever again!” Ryuji pumped his fist in excitement.

Akira smiled awkwardly. He appreciated the enthusiasm but was still skeptical.

He was the infamous exchange student. No one wanted to talk to him, let alone befriend him.

“Don’t worry, once people stop being assholes and thinking you’re gonna beat them up, this’ll be easy,” Ryuji said.

“Might as well try, I guess,” Akira half-agreed.

Ryuji launched into a rant about his _friendship-guaranteeing_ ideas, as well as the students he thought would be good to try to befriend.

Akira listened to the stream of babbling, a stark realization that this was the longest conversation he’d had in years.

***

Ryuji was thrumming with excitement as Akira gave him a wave before getting off the train at the Yongen-Jaya station to head home. Ryuji returned the gestured enthusiastically.

Of course he would have preferred walking Akira all the way to Leblanc, but he wasn’t gonna intrude on the guy’s boundaries. Boundaries were important! Especially if Akira was ever gonna trust him. Besides, he was too happy to feel choked about anything right now.

Akira had talked to him! And he didn’t hate him! Hell, he’d even listened to Ryuji and made plans to follow up. The days of waiting and silently following were torture and had felt like an eternity. Ryuji knew for a fact that Akira was an amazing guy, but Ryuji had still been worried he’d effed things up beyond repair, so having Akira talk to him had been a huge weight off his shoulders.

He’d messed things up so many times before and had payed the consequences. Even being here like this was going to have consequences someday. When the higher ups found out… well hopefully they never would. Anyways, this time he was going to help his charge get the happiness he deserved. He’d already promised himself he wouldn’t stop until Akira Kurusu had at least one person who would stand by his side. Until then Ryuji was gonna work as hard as he could.

And since Akira was willing to accept him, there’s no way he’d let him down now.

He’d already let the guy down too many times now.

Akira didn’t deserve the hand he’d been dealt, and up until now Ryuji had only been making things worse. Any gamble Ryuji had taken had backfired and blown up, with the blast aimed Akira’s way.

But today was a new day.

Starting today Ryuji could help Akira directly.

Hopefully that would make all the difference.

***

It turns out Ryuji and Akira had something in common. Neither of them was very good at making friends.

Okay, maybe this was an unfair judgement, since Akira had yet to put any of their discussed plans into motion, but some of his ideas were… Well let’s just say Akira didn’t think learning to conquer the burger eating challenge at Big Bang Burger was going to make him any more charming.

But with the assured grin Ryuji had shot his way, it had been hard to say no.

Actually most of the advice Ryuji had given seemed more in the realm of video game logic. Although since Akira was clearly no expert himself, he didn’t have much room to refute anything.

They’d spent three days discussing plans to make Akira’s first friend, and while his confidence in the plan with close to zero, there had been something good that had come out of it.

The awkward air hanging between Akira and his guardian angel had been cleared relatively quickly. That wasn’t to say that Akira didn’t still feel weird about the whole thing, because he didn’t think he would ever completely get over it, but things were fine at the moment. There was still a lot he wanted to know about, but Akira wasn’t about to risk straining their truce with added tension. For now, Akira was okay waiting, happy with the dynamic they had formed; Ryuji carrying many of their discussions but still asking for Akira’s input on things. It was a position Akira was comfortable with.

It helped that Ryuji, aside from his outfit, looked just as human as anyone else. Akira had assumed this was the reason the angel kept his wings hidden under the hoodie all the time. It was probably hard on Ryuji since he wouldn’t be able to fly anywhere, but Akira appreciated the gesture.

Don’t get him wrong, the fact that someone was following him around at almost all times was still weird, and gave Akira the vague feeling of being self-conscious at various points during the day, but he’d break out of it by reminding himself that Ryuji had seen him in worse states. This didn’t always help make him feel better.

“Are ya ready dude?” Ryuji asked him, bouncing up and down on his usual bench.

Akira clenched the phone he held in his hand a little, feeling anxious.

“Not really, but what’s the worst that could happen, right?” Akira laughed a little, to ease his own nerves.

Waiting for the volleyball club to finish practice felt never-ending. There was no official end time to practices, Akira had learned, so he was forced to wait anxiously before putting the plan into motion.

The friend making plan, as it were, centered around one of the volleyball club members named Mishima. Ryuji had told him that Mishima seemed friendly, if not anxious, and a little lonely. It was rude to say that Mishima was also desperate to make friends, but befriending someone in a similar boat seemed more plausible at least.

However, even though Ryuji had told him that Mishima seemed like a cool guy to get to know, Ryuji knew very little about the guy. This was a little concerning, but apparently despite being perfectly happy following Akira around, stalking some other random guy was ‘weird’ and ‘uncool’.

At least Mishima was in his class so Akira knew generally who he was.

“Nah dude, you’re gonna be fine, we’ve gone over this,” Ryuji assured. “This stupid practice sure is taking a while though.”

Akira snorted.

“I would have thought you’d be used to waiting,” Akira remarked, constantly surprised by the angel’s short attention span.

Wasn’t patience a virtue or something?

“Haha very funny, dude. Save some of your hilarious jokes for Mishima,” Ryuji responded dryly. “But don’t actually sass him, you might scare him away.”

Akira rolled his eyes.

“I will use only wholesome jokes from now on,” Akira deadpanned, earning him a loud laugh from Ryuji.

It was easier to speak lightly with the angel, and making jokes seemed a good way to deflect the nerves Akira felt in any given situation. Akira had never thought he was funny before, but Ryuji seemed to laugh around him. Maybe it was part of Ryuji’s job description.

Even if it was, it was nice to joke around with someone. It was comfortable. Even if comfortable made alarm bells go off in Akira’s mind. Because comfortable wasn’t normal.

Then again, neither was his guardian angel.

So Akira silenced his thoughts and went back to waiting patiently for the whistles and running from inside the gym to die down. Yelling could be heard, but it was too muffled to make out any actual words.

It was another fifteen minutes of impatient silence before students started exiting the gym, all dragging their feet and rubbing sore muscles. The bruises many of them sported made Akira wince, and also made him grateful he never liked volleyball.

Akira peered through the crowd of people, feeling even creepier now than he had simply waiting here.

This was a terrible idea. There was no way this was going to work. His newest nickname was going to be the _stalker transfer student_ and he wouldn’t even be able to refute this one because it wouldn’t be wrong.

But before Akira could abandon ship, Ryuji was on his feet making his way toward a head of blue hair framing a face covered by a much too large bandage. Ryuji waved his arms and pointed at Mishima, who had his eyes trailing the ground before him.

Akira bit his lip; every part of his brain was yelling at him to leave and regroup. He could always try a different day, right? Who needed friends, he’d made it this far on his own hadn’t he? Maybe his upbringing was just training for his destined hermit lifestyle. And who was Akira to argue with his destiny?

“You can do this!” Akira heard Ryuji call out, making Akira sigh.

He really couldn’t, but he had been the one who’d asked for it.

Who was Akira kidding, he wanted friends and if this had even the smallest chance of working then it was worth it.

Akira got to his feet. Luckily (or not so luckily) Mishima seemed to be fiddling with something on his phone, meaning even with Akira’s hesitation the plan could still be put in motion.

With no real excuses for himself, Akira approached Mishima. Ryuji was still cheering which was becoming a bit distracting at this point. Akira shot the angel a wavering look meant to ask the other to maybe settle down. It must have worked since Ryuji nodded and cleared away as Akira got closer to Mishima.

“Uh, you’re Mishima right?” Akira started, trying not to wince when Mishima flinched at the address.

Snapping his head up so fast Akira could feel the second-hand whiplash, Mishima stared wide-eyed at Akira.

“Y-you’re the—” Mishima squeaked, looking every bit as terrified as Akira secretly felt.

Mishima’s words trailed off. Akira was unsure whether to finish the boy’s sentence but decided it was better than the awkward silence in the courtyard.

“I’m Akira Kurusu, we’re in the same class,” Akira tried.

“YES! I-I mean, you’re the t-transfer student. I know you, well everyone knows you. A-and I guess you know me? And wow I sure am tired from practice you know,” Mishima stuttered, glancing around for the nearest exit. Akira was well versed with that look.

Distantly Akira could feel others watching the interaction. Well Mishima was practically screaming _help me_ so it’d be natural for bystanders to watch on.

“So… umm well you’re probably busy and I should be going. Lots of homework to do and all that,” Mishima rushed.

Wait, Akira hadn’t even managed to get past stage two of the plan.

“Actually, I was wondering if you wanted to go to the gym together sometime? You’re an athlete and I thought it might be fun?” Akira said before Mishima could run away.

In reality, the gym was not what Akira would consider fun, and at the very bottom of the places he’d frequent himself. But Ryuji insisted it was the perfect place to start. He was also very insistent that bonding over protein powder was apparently a thing. It sounded fake, but Akira had nothing to disprove it.

“T-the gym?” Mishima gaped in disbelief, horror in his eyes.

Well that wasn’t a good sign.

Akira nodded anyways.

“Umm, well actually I’m a bit too busy with the team right now, and I have… plans. Yeah, lots of plans for the rest of the year! So sorry. Please don’t kill me—I mean, see you later.”

With that Mishima was gone in a blaze that left Akira’s friend making attempt in ashes.

That went about as well as Akira had predicted. He wasn’t sure if he was disappointed in the failure or reassured that it wasn’t just his personal inability to talk to people that had cut him off from those around him.

He distantly watched Mishima flee with more terror than even Akira was used to, like the blue-haired boy was running from a gang of kidnappers or something. The whole thing just made Akira tired. The idea of trying again later was even more tiring.

Akira sighed at Ryuji’s approach.

The angel had a scowl on his face, looking scornfully at all the background students still staring at Akira with harsh whispers to each other.

“Hey dude, I think you did good. Things’ll be better next time,” Ryuji said, cheerful but still annoyed. “People are just stupid is all. Maybe you were right about the gym thing… we shoulda gone with the arcade. Everyone loves the arcade! But really dude you were fine and--”

Akira nodded along as Ryuji continued to simultaneously encourage him and complain about things, only really half listening.

“Listen Ryuji,” Akira cut in after a couple minutes, holding his phone to his ear.

Ryuji quickly silenced himself.

“Thanks for your help today. I really do appreciate it,” Akira said. And he meant it. At least even with the failed plan he’d had someone to dust him off afterwards.

He wasn’t used to it.

But if they’d completed the friend-making plan, did that mean Ryuji was finished with his angelic duty and would move on to the next person now? Akira still wasn’t sure how the whole thing worked.

Ryuji said something after that, but Akira didn’t hear him as he felt someone bump into his shoulder.

“Sorry,” the voice all but whispered.

Akira watched as a shorter brunette girl, with a startling number of bandages and a glazed over expression moved past him and out of the courtyard.

The familiarity of the look in her eyes was startling.

After all, Akira had seen it plenty of times in the mirror.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ryuji Sakamoto is the ultimate hype man don't @ me. 
> 
> Thanks to everyone for reading! Hope ya'll enjoyed!

**Author's Note:**

> Here it is, the sole surviving fic of my original fictober plan. I've had a very one track mind ship wise lately, but I had to make some time for my pegoryu bois as well.
> 
> This is actually inspired by some amazing art my friend @Whatsamatteratsu did last year which you can find [Here](https://whatsamatteratsu.tumblr.com/post/187525999480/have-you-ever-heard-of-the-one-winged-angel-that)
> 
> Hope y'all enjoy!


End file.
